The Union railway ministry is redeveloping 101 railway stations across Bengal under the “Amrit Bharat Station” scheme. Work has been completed in several stations of the state, Ashwin Vaishnaw, the Union minister for railways, said in the Parliament on Friday.

The minister also elaborated on the progress of infrastructural work at railway stations in Bengal while replying to a question raised by Rajya Sabha MP and BJP’s Bengal chief Samik Bhattacharya at the upper house on the current status of work in each of these stations.

According to Vaishnaw, 1,337 stations have been identified for development under the scheme across the country, including 101 in Bengal.

“The minister mentioned that so far, work in nine stations — Anara, Barabhum, Haldia, Joychandi Pahar, Kalyani Ghoshpara, Kamakhyaguri, Panagarh, Siuri, and Tamluk — has been completed under the scheme, while work is in progress in the other stations,” said a source.

Projects planned for the improvement of six stations — Alipurduar Junction, Bandel Junction, Howrah Junction, Kolkata, New Cooch Behar, and Ranaghat — are at various stages of master planning/tendering, the source added.

Under the scheme, railway authorities have drawn up several plans for the stations.

These plans include improvement of access to station building and circulating areas, improvement of waiting halls, toilets, sitting arrangement, water booths, parking areas, construction of wider foot over bridge, installation of lifts and escalators and better passenger information systems, a source said.

FSSAI certificates

The Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has awarded the “Eat Right Station” certification to six railway stations of the Northeast Frontier Railway’s (NFR) Alipurduar division, senior railway officials said on Friday.

The certification, they said, will be valid from December 5, 2025, to December 3, 2027, and indicates that hygienic and high-quality food are served to passengers at these stations.

These stations are Jalpaiguri Road, Dhupguri, Binnaguri, Falakata, New Cooch Behar, and Dinhata, in the Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts.

“It is a matter of pride for us that these stations have the FSSAI certification. These stations were able to meet the stringent criteria of FSSAI, which assesses the hygiene and food quality and overall cleanliness,” said K K Sharma, the chief public relations officer of NFR.